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OT: Is Royce White's Career Over?

I remember a long and interesting White thread a month or so ago (I think by Metro?). I'm wondering if anyone's opinions changed on him now that the Rockets are now suspending him indefinitely without pay. I think his tweeting has hurt his case.

General manager Daryl Morey said Sunday that the team will continue to work with White in hopes of finding a resolution.

White will not be paid during his suspension.

White refused his assignment to Houston's D-League affiliate a week ago. The 16th overall pick in the June draft has spent most of the season on Houston's inactive list while he and the team figure out how to handle his anxiety disorder and overall mental health.

White has been vocal on Twitter throughout this saga, and he continued to voice his opinions on the website after the announcement Sunday.

"What's suspending me suppose to do. I've been away from the team for a month ½. Guess we want to give it a title to shift accountability," he tweeted.

That was the first in a string of tweets on the subject, and he then addressed Morey in the second one.

The Rockets chose White in the first round after a season at Iowa State, where he helped the Cyclones to their first NCAA tournament berth in seven years by leading the team in scoring (13.4 points a game), rebounds (9.3), assists (5.0), steals (1.2) and blocks (0.9).

The 6-foot-8 White missed the first week of training camp to work with the Rockets to create an arrangement to deal with his anxiety disorder within the demands of the NBA's travel schedule. He and the team agreed to allow him to travel by bus to some games while he confronted his fear of flying and obsessive-compulsive disorder. He flew to Detroit with the team for the season opener and then traveled by bus to Atlanta and Memphis for games.

But he soon stopped participating in team activities and said on Twitter that dealing with his mental health took precedence over his NBA career. Then came his decision last Sunday to refuse his assignment to the D-League. Despite that decision, he said then that he still hopes to return to basketball in the future.

"And daily I'm just trying to stand up for my health and make sure that my health isn't neglected in an operation where, me and you both know, it's mostly about money," White said in a recent interview with Sirius/XM Radio. "And I'm kind of the only one that's going to sit in the situation and say, 'Hey, let's put the health thing first.' "

I gotta admit I keep swaying on this dude. I follow him on twitter and it hasn't really helped my perception of him. I think he might be setting a bad precedent for other players with mental illness since many teams might see this whole episode as a reason to stay away from taking that kind of gamble. Apparently this isn't really about a fear of flying or anything like that. I think its more about the Rockets not doing enough to make sure his illness is being accommodated.

I believe he'd feel a whole lot better if he faced his fears. Thats what hurts him and keeps him from progressing. But eventually u gotta be strong, he needs to realize hes extremely blessed. To be in that position, how many people have the opportunity to play in the NBA, make millions, and do alotta charity work along the way?

This isnt the way to help other people with anxiety and bring attention to the disorder. Alot of us folks with anxiety are new born birds, we're afraid to fly (just realized the pun here with Royce being afraid of planes). Hes gotta step off that clip and spread his wings, otherwise the years go by and before you know it your old and washed up, Larry Holmes.

The Doctors he has might be hurting him more then they're helping him. I dont believe anxiety should be treated as a disorder. This is why schools need to teach kids life management skills from early on all through high school instead of all kinds of bullsh*t that none of us end up using. I dont think his career is over, he might not figure it out until his mid to late 20's. Great move by Houston to suspend him, they should be tough with him. Im not saying they should waive him but try to motivate him to overcome his fears.

I'm somewhat familiar to the situation, only because Jeremy Lin happens to play for the Rockets.........

It is hard to tell whether White is in the right or wrong..... The two things that makes me go against White is the fact he's not working on his game, and he's constantly Tweeting about his condition, making a big deal over it. (Maybe independent workouts are not allowed by the CBA, I don't know.) Big time drama queen, if you will. The Rockets fans think he's now using his condition as a ploy to just take the contract money and run.

I think White may have convinced himself that the NBA travel procedures, without amendment, would be totally incompatible with his condition. So he's now bent on never playing a single game in the NBA.

Even before the issue hit a boiling point, I've seen White play in limited practice...... He struck me as someone who never really had a good fundamental game, doesn't play defense, and constantly looks for an opportunity to make a "highlight reel" play. (As if he were trying out for the Harlem Globetrotters. This might now be his only lucrative option.) The fact he refused to take his D-League assignment further reinforces this impression, because I do think showing off under D-League conditions won't go very far. And lack of a fundamental game in such environment might expose him as nothing more than a bench player at best.